Are robots the key to omnichannel inventory management?

The use of robots on the retail sales floor is the same sort of double-edged sword as when used for the warehouse. Some see them as capable of handling arduous processes to allow employees to focus on customer service. Others see robots as pure replacements, threatening to cut out the need for real live human staff. The latest robot to make an appearance at the front of the store is, if it catches on, likely to generate the same sort of controversy.
A company called 4D Retail Technology Corp. has created a robot capable of automating the inventory process by rolling through the aisles and imaging every product and every barcode in a store. An article on ZDNet described the robot, called the 4D Space Genius, as being a Segway-mounted scanner, which can successfully traverse and scan a full grocery store in about an hour. The robot can identify not only the location of every item in the store, but can log discrepancies between price tags, missing price tags and empty shelves.
Among the robots’ potential applications are determining stock position closer to real-time and streamlining ordering and re-shelving. ZDNet author Greg Nichols noted, for instance, that the ability of the robot to create a 3-D map of a store and its products could theoretically create a closer tie between online and in-store shopping. Demonstration units are slated to appear at a few unnamed major chains in North America and Europe.
Others are also working on using robots to crack the difficult nut of streamlined inventory management. The creators of Lowe’s OSHBot are working to get the robots to track inventory in real-time, according to a recent Fast Company article. The developers also working on building out other inventory-related solutions within the robot, such as the ability to tell a customer if an item s/he brings into the store is stocked there.
Others retailers, such as Target, have been using less flashy RFID technology to more accurately manage inventory and integrate it with omnichannel and online initiatives.
- Store clerks beware: this Segway has a scanner gun – ZDNet
- What The Lowe’s Robot Will Do For You – And The Future Of Retail – Fast Company
- Lowe’s new sales help seems a little robotic – RetailWire
- Target puts RFID rollout on the fast track – RetailWire
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What are the potential upsides and downsides of implementing the 4D Space Genius in grocery stores? Will this be the technology solution for real-time inventory management, or are other options such as RFID a better bet?
Join the Discussion!
15 Comments on "Are robots the key to omnichannel inventory management?"
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Assuming this actually works (and there’s no reason to not assume that) and can measure inventory, then it becomes a cost question — is it cheaper to have the robot determine what needs to be re-stocked?
As described, the robots could be a big benefit in tracking inventory and replenishing. Few things frustrate consumers more than out-of-stocks. Target has shown us that RFID, at least how they implement it, doesn’t work to consumers’ satisfaction. Perhaps with a commitment from management, and some of these new robots, Target could take some of the hassle out of shopping in its stores.
There is a larger philosophical issue at play here that goes beyond retail. It’s a matter of how an industrialized society allows automation and technology to affect humans in ways that are potentially detrimental. This issue has been accelerating at an ever quickening pace as the information age has progressed. Software, imaging/tracking technologies and robots are almost always superior to humans at the mundane task of managing things. So from a business perspective, it makes sense to utilize such systems over people. However, as these systems are brought online, at best the roles for humans change, if not get obsoleted. So with limited budgets, any entity, retailer, distributor, manufacturer, etc., has to determine what path to take balancing what’s best for business and what obligations it has to employees.
I believe in the technology and that if not now, in a few iterations it will deliver what’s promised, but I also believe that we need to determine how to address obsoleting jobs as a result of these systems before leaping headfirst into this new territory.
Robots could, in fact, enable other technologies that have been “sputtering” for years, like RFID. Shoppers are more than ready for robots in stores, as evidenced by concept stores internationally. Also, robots will be more effective in stocking physical shelves in stores to truly minimize out-of-stocks. Further, they will manage inventory across channels and locations closer to real-time than humans can.
Robots in stores have been around for years now, and with optical recognition and two-way shopper interaction, the time is now to move beyond the novelty and get serious.
The fastest way for a retailer to grow sales is to be in-stock!
There are some things that a robot can do faster and cheaper than human staff. Inventory management and stocking shelves can definitely be one of the areas where robots can be cost effective. The capability of price checking and and consistency is an added bonus.
One of the rapidly growing components of omnichannel is BOPIS — Buy Online Pickup In Store. The challenge with BOPIS is real-time inventory management to make sure what the customer buys online is in fact on the shelf. Robots are the perfect solution for BOPIS.
There is little question of the capability and potential of robots for to replace some of the staffing required for inventory and stocking. The real question is whether retailers will try to cut staff by using robots, or if they will use robots to free up staff to create the customer experience that will differentiate their stores in ways that will make customers come back.
If I read this correctly, it is an auditing robot which scans and shows what is on the shelves, humans still have to go through and restock it. I can see it as an auditing tool going from store to store to do audits, versus putting one permanently in one store. This would most likely be used after hours so there is less consumer interaction, but i do wonder how well it will navigate the aisles during stocking time when there are pallets in the store.
RFID and shelf technology will in the end beat the bots and the issues that they will bring, from maintenance to lawsuits for ramming into people. RFID does not scare customers’ kids.
Good to test out things like 4D’s bots, but we have simpler technology that can have even more impact than a bot.
We are much closer to RFID on all items than getting Cyberdyne Systems online!
Rather than regurgitate the information above, let’s just say this: This is just the beginning. It is a strange, yet very exciting, time we live in as we see robots moving through aisles of a grocery stores and driver-less cars dropping off and picking up our customers. And the computer that drives this will allow retailers to gain incredible real-time data that will help streamline business, track trends and much, much more.
We really don’t need something else blocking aisle access in stores. Particularly big box stores that often have pallets lying around. Now I am not opposed to having kiosks for way-finding, etc., but these should be off the beaten path.
For my 2 cents, RFID works just fine!
This is a good example of creating technology instead of transforming the paradigm of inventory management. This robot is design to mimic the actions of humans, not optimize the inventory management experience.
The real question is why even have the items on the shelves on the first place? Grab-and-go is fine, but how about being more innovative and having the shelves and robots in a warehouse/separate location picking for customers who can just scan the product and fill up a virtual cart on their mobile phone instead of having robots/humans mingle on the floor together?
Technology like this is novelty and not a solution to the real issue of optimizing inventory management and improve the shopping experience.